Miglionico ( Lucano: ) is a town and ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' in the

province of Matera The province of Matera (; Materano: ) is a province in the Basilicata region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Matera. It has an area of and a total population of 201,133; the city of Matera has a population of 61,204. The province contains ...

, in

Basilicata Basilicata (, ; ), also known by its ancient name Lucania (, , ), is an administrative region in Southern Italy, bordering on Campania to the west, Apulia to the north and east, and Calabria to the south. It has two coastlines: a 30-kilometr ...

southern Italy Southern Italy (, , or , ; ; ), also known as () or (; ; ; ), is a macroregion of Italy consisting of its southern Regions of Italy, regions. The term "" today mostly refers to the regions that are associated with the people, lands or cultu ...

. It is one of

I Borghi più belli d'Italia () is a non-profit private association of small Italian towns of strong historical and artistic interest, that was founded in March 2001 on the initiative of the Tourism Council of the National Association of Italian Municipalities, with the a ...

("The most beautiful villages of Italy").

Main sights

*The massive Castello del Malconsiglio ("Castle of the Bad Council"), built in the 8th-9th century and enlarged in 1110 and in the 15th century. *The Basilica of ''Santa Maria Maggiore''.

History

Despite the legend assigning its foundation to the famous Greek wrestler

Milo of Croton Milo or Milon of Croton () was a famous Ancient Greece, ancient Greek athlete from Crotone, Croton, which is today in the Magna Graecia region of southern Italy. Milo was a six-time winner at the Ancient Olympic Games, Olympics, once for boys' w ...

(whence the name), Miglionico was most likely founded by the

Oenotrians The Oenotrians or Enotrians were an ancient Italic people who inhabited a territory in Southern Italy from Paestum to southern Calabria. By the sixth century BC, the Oenotrians had been absorbed into other Italic tribes. Etymology A likely deri ...

, a local Italic tribe. After the Greek colonization, it was held by the Lucani, followed by the

Samnites The Samnites () were an ancient Italic peoples, Italic people who lived in Samnium, which is located in modern inland Abruzzo, Molise, and Campania in south-central Italy. An Oscan language, Oscan-speaking Osci, people, who originated as an offsh ...

until 458 BC, when it was conquered by the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

. In the Middle Ages the story of Miglionico was strongly connected to that of its large castle, which was held by the Hauteville Normans and then by the

Sanseverino Sanseverino may refer to: * House of Sanseverino, Neapolitan noble family * Antonio Sanseverino, (ca. 1477–1543), Neapolitan cardinal * Ferdinando Sanseverino (1507–1572), prince of Salerno and Italian condottiero * Aurora Sanseverino (1669 ...

. After the latter where slaughtered by order of Frederick II (1245), Miglionico was assigned to his son

Manfred ''Manfred: A dramatic poem'' is a closet drama written in 1816–1817 by Lord Byron. It contains supernatural elements, in keeping with the popularity of the ghost story in England at the time. It is a typical example of Gothic fiction. Byr ...

. After the latter's fall, however, the Sanseverino were re-instated, holding the town until the abolition of feudalism.

References

External links

Miglionico Selected Civil Records
Cities and towns in Basilicata Hilltowns in Basilicata Castles in Italy Borghi più belli d'Italia {{Basilicata-geo-stub